The invention concerns an amusement and information system for use by passengers on commercial carriers (air lines, railroads, busses) from which different entertainment may be selected.
Selective viewing, per se, is known as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,522 to Lambert, wherein a telephone is dialed to select from a listing of programs available to a remote receiving location from which the dialing is completed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,477 to Lovett teaches a television information system in which subscribers transmit to a computer a video request for desired information which is processed such that the information is generated to the subscriber. Templin et al. disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,651 a selective video reception system. Here, groups of VHF, UHF or CATV channels are programmed by a key switch, and individual channels within the groups may be selected by means of selector keys. A communication network having master and remote stations, each having a television receiver to which a common video tape recorder may be selectively connected, is shown in Roscoe's U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,206. U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,733 to Ulicki discusses a system for providing a video display of a pictorial information message on a video display device.
Passenger rail cars and busses typically provide no entertainment for the passengers who must amuse themselves by reading, for instance. On some airlines a movie is provided, however, the passengers have a choice only between watching or not watching a pre-selected movie. An airliner may also have a selection of audio tapes are available to the passengers for listening. Generally, a substantial amount of time is spent peering from the airliner window at the scenery below.